1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling structure for an environmental-friendly vehicle, and more particularly, to a cooling structure for an environmental-friendly vehicle which has a battery mounted in a tire well of a trunk thereof and supplies diverging cooling air to cool down the battery.
2. Description of Related Art
Environmentally-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicle or hybrid vehicles utilize a high voltage battery mounted therein to supply power to a motor serving as a power source thereof. Since the battery is mounted inside the environmental-friendly vehicle, the mounting position of the battery often takes up precious an interior space and thus the merchantable quality of the environmental-friendly vehicle is typically affected as a result. For example, the battery may be mounted over a rear floor inside a trunk.
In addition to taking up space, these batteries emit a significant amount of heat while being operated. Therefore, a technique for cooling down the battery is considered to be an important factor, as well. Conventionally, the battery is mounted inside the vehicle or on one side of the trunk, and, a separate cooling module is not provided, or the battery is simply cooled down through ventilation. In most cases, however, the battery cooling structure only include a duct for guiding air flow and a cooling fan for forcing or accelerating the air flow. Thus, the conventional cooling structures do not effective cool the batteries in these types of vehicles. Further, the interior space or trunk of the vehicle may be reduced by the space where the battery is mounted.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.